“When Inchworm misunderstands a conversation between Mama Bug and her baby, he warns Toad who tells Rabbit. Rabbit tips off Mouse who alerts Fox. Before long they’ve concocted a monster of a rumor that is flat-out funny!” A Step 2 story with basic vocabulary and short sentences, perfect for emergent readers. [JE HARRISON]

“In 1841, a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is forced to swim to a small, unknown island, where they are rescued by a passing American ship. Japan’s borders remain closed to all Western nations. Even their own citizens can never reenter the country after they have left, under penalty of imprisonment and even death! So the crew sets off to America, learning English on the way.

“Manjiro, a fourteen-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Eventually the captain adopts Manjiro and takes him to his home in New England. The boy lives for some time in New England, and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold. After many years, he makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider. With his hard-won knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a unique position to persuade the shogun to ease open the boundaries around Japan; he may even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai.” [J PREUS]

“Everything You Need to Know about Animals delivers exactly what its title promises. Arranged into 5 core topics that explore the huge variety in the animal kingdom, how they get around, how they eat, animal senses and reproduction. Readers’ imaginations will be fired on every page with activities, glossary words, Internet links, and fascinating facts.” [J590 DAVIES]